Schumer to call for large gun retailers to voluntarily cease selling assault weapons

Schumer to call for large gun retailers to voluntarily cease selling assault weapons

Mel Evans/AP

Guns are displayed on tables in Camden, N.J. in December after New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa announced that a gun buyback event brought in more than 1,100 guns.

Sen. Chuck Schumer will call for the nation’s largest gun retailers to voluntarily cease selling assault weapons while Congress debates stricter firearms legislation, the Daily News has learned.

Schumer will write to the CEOs of Walmart, the Sports Authority, Gander Mountain and four other national chains, charging that their outlets are putting people’s lives in danger.

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“Since the Sandy Hook shooting, the sales of assault weapons are skyrocketing,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) told The News.

“We have no idea how many people [buying the guns] are mentally ill, or how many are felons,” he continued. “If Congress passes measures to reduce availability of these weapons, those efforts could be undermined by the purchase of thousands of weapons before then.”

The White House task force on guns, led by Vice President Biden, is expected to present its ideas to President Obama this week.

In the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shooting, Obama has vowed to make gun control a priority in his second term â€" which is all but certain to spark a legislative war with Republicans and their allies in the National Rifle Association.

Schumer wants the moratorium on assault weapons and high-capacity clips to last for as many months as it takes to pass legislation â€" that means it will include “Gun Appreciation Day,” which is scheduled for next Saturday.

The so-called holiday is the brainchild of gun owners who want as many Americans as possible to purchase weapons that day to protest the possibility of new firearms legislation.

“I find this totally off the charts â€" it’s total lunacy,” said Schumer.

Though acknowledging that Walmart has rebuffed previous calls for gun restrictions, New York’s senior senator urged citizens to call their local retailers.

“They need public pressure, they might listen to that,” Schumer said.